Life is Full of IFs
by Silver Artic Wolf
Summary: What if a different girl came to Forks? What if she had a different personality from Bella? What if everything changed? What if?
1. Chapter 1

So, this is my first _Twilight _fanfic and I just felt compelled to write it. I hope you enjoy it.  
-Silver  
----------------------------

Life is Full of Ifs

* * *

Brigid took one last look around her room. It was completely empty and barren, except for a few boxes. She grabbed a hold of her suitcase, carry-on, and purse, headed out the door, and down a short hallway to a carpeted living room. An average height, middle-aged woman with shoulder length, brown hair that had gray streaks scattered throughout stood in the middle of the room. "Bye, Mom," Brigid stated calmly and turned on her heel and headed out the front door.  
Only a few hours later, Brigid was seated on a flight to Forks, a small town on the west coast where her father had moved about ten months before when her parents' divorce had been finalized. She pulled her wavy, golden-blond hair up into a pony tail and pushed her side bangs behind her ear. As they touched down, she noticed it was drizzling on the tarmac. When Brigid finally found her suitcase and succeeded in getting to the pick-up line in front of the airport, she found her dad easily and threw her stuff into his trunk. "I think you'll like it here," Her dad told her as he pulled into the driveway of a small, white house.  
Brigid smiled and got out of the car, "I think so too." 

-----------------

After a few days, the rest of Brigid's things arrived in a moving van, and she and her dad spent the whole day moving furniture. With her room all set up, and nothing in the fridge to make for dinner, Brigid walked into the living room, crossed her arms over her chest, and coughed. "How are you supposed to live with no food?" Brigid asked.  
"I haven't had a chance to go to the grocery store, yet. And, it doesn't matter. A nice guy I met, Billy Black, is coming up to watch basketball with me. He's bringing fish fry he told me I have to try," David, Brigid's dad, replied from a comfy arm chair.  
"Yay, basketball," Brigid mumbled sarcastically. 

-----------------

Not much more than an hour later, there was a loud rapping on the front door. David stood and shouted, "I'll get it," to Brigid who was sitting in the kitchen reading a book. Brigid heard laughter and the sound of footsteps and decided to see what was happening. Marking her place by dog-earing the page, she left her book and headed into the living room. Next to her dad she saw a dark-skinned man with warm eyes that seemed to bore into her at the same time. He had a smile on his face and his black hair was pulled into a long ponytail behind his head. She felt a wave of sadness flow over her when she noted he was in a wheelchair. "Brigid, this is Billy Black. He and his son, Jacob," her dad motioned to a lanky teen leaning against the door frame, "live on the Quilete reservation down the road about ten or fifteen miles."  
Brigid walked over and shook Billy's hand. "Nice to meet you."  
"David said he had kids, but I never expected him to have good-looking ones," Billy commented with a twinkle in his eye.  
Brigid smiled and laughed quietly. "Oh, and not to leave Jacob hanging, this is my son," Billy continued, "I suppose he's about your age."  
"Jacob's a bit younger, actually," David told Billy.  
"I could've guessed that, she looks about nineteen," Billy added.

"I'm only seventeen," Brigid explained.  
"See, she's only a little older," Billy stated.  
"I'm going to turn seventeen in a few months," Jacob stated.  
Brigid turned to face Jacob, noting how much he resembled his dad. He was fairly average height, but still about three inches taller than Brigid, dark skin, brown eyes, black hair that he had cropped at his shoulders.  
"So, do you go to the local high school?" She asked.  
"Nah, there's a school on the reservation," Jacob answered.  
"Great, I still don't know anyone, then," Brigid grimaced and headed back to the kitchen.  
"Not one for sports?" Billy asked David.  
"Only football," She heard her dad reply.

------------------

Brigid had moved to Forks just before the end of October, and felt out of place the next day when she walked into school. The kids around her wore a variety of clothes, but for her first day of school, Brigid felt underdressed. She had put on her favorite pair of jeans with a small hole on the left knee, a solid, sky-blue, scoop-neck t-shirt, and a blue sweatshirt that said Denver Nuggets on it. Tugging at the sleeves, she slipped into the office and the secretary gave her a schedule and map of the school. "Don't hesitate to come here and ask me a question if you need to!" The secretary chirped sweetly as Brigid headed out.

Brigid's day dragged. She went from class to class, introducing and reintroducing herself to people. All of the classes seemed to be things she had already covered since Forks seemed to put classes in different orders from her old school. At lunch, Brigid sat down at a table by a window with her lunch box and was about to pull out her food when a shy girl from her Literature class walked over and said, "You shouldn't sit there."

"Why?" Brigid asked curiously, "are there assigned seats in here too?"

"Well, I suppose you could say that," the girl replied, "the Cullens sit here, and since no one ever bothers them, they always sit at this table."

"Oh, my bad," Brigid stated and picked up her stuff, "do you mind if I sit with you then?"

"No, come on, I sit in the next row over."

As Brigid walked away from the table, she caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her right eye. She turned to look at them and the girl standing next to her whispered, "That's them."

Moving slowly to the table where she would be eating lunch, Brigid watched as a pixie-like brunette girl skipped gracefully and sat down with a taller, sinuous, curly haired boy. Following them was a blond who wore the most expensive looking fashionable clothes Brigid had ever seen. Her blond hair put Brigid to shame and she pulled at her hair absent-mindedly as the blond was followed by a bulky looking, buzz-cut, brunette boy. Just as Brigid was turning towards her food, a final movement caught her attention, a tall, strong-looking, boy with hair the color of polished copper headed for the same table as the four before him. The girl who had invited her to the table nudged her when Brigid sharply took in air. "That's Edward Cullen. His father is the best doctor at our hospital. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen took in Rosalie, the blond, and Jasper, when their parents died in a strange accident. Alice, Emmett, and Edward are all siblings. All of them are adopted from relatives. Aren't they just beautiful to look at?"

Brigid nodded and glanced back over her shoulder at Edward, only to catch him looking at her oddly from the seat she had previously occupied. She whipped her head back around and mumbled something about not being hungry anymore and slipped out of the cafeteria.

Later on, in Biology, which Brigid swore she took freshman year; Brigid was seated next to Edward. As she went to introduce herself, Edward sneered at her and scooted as far away from her as possible. Brigid growled and turned her back on him. When the bell finally rang, she stormed out of the classroom, tension building in her shoulders and back. By the time she was dressed for P.E., she thought she was going to bust. 'The only good thing about this day so far has been the fact that we're doing a volleyball unit in this class,' Brigid grumbled in her head.

When Brigid hit the last score of the match, the girls on her team came up and gave her high-fives. "Do you know you just beat the entire volleyball team at their own sport?" One girl, Jessica, squealed.

"That's the volleyball team?" Brigid asked.

"Yes, it is," one of the others confirmed.

"Looks like we know what you're going to be doing the rest of this year," One of the girls from the other team said, "no need to try-out, come to practice next week. We have a big game coming up against the high school on the reservation."

"Sure," Brigid replied, "I'll just let you know I've never been on a sports team before."

"You're pretty good, for a girl," laughed one of the boys from the other side of the gym.

"You want to try and beat her?" Jessica shouted back.

"Guys don't play volleyball," He replied.

"Sure they do," Brigid added, "they compete in the Olympics in beach volleyball."

"Ouch, a smart-ass," The guy grinned as he walked over.

"Come, on," A shorter guy started, "it's just a game."

"Whatever, Mike, go grow a pair."

The guys headed off towards the showers, except for Mike. "You did really well."

"Thanks, I guess," Brigid shrugged as she headed for the girls' locker room.

------------------

The school week came to a close and Brigid had finished up her homework by the time Saturday morning rolled around. She headed downstairs in a pair of black shorts with white trim and a white v-neck. "Can I borrow the car?" She asked David.

"Sure, be back by dinner."

Brigid had printed off directions to the reservation and took the long, scenic drive at a slow pace. She enjoyed watching the trees roll past her windows and no one else was on the road, making it easier for her to drive slower. When she drove onto main road in the reservation, she realized that she had failed to ask Jacob where he lived, or to get directions to his house. Slapping her hand to her forehead, she parked in a lot next to a store and wandered inside. Behind the counter stood a boy who looked to be a year or two younger than Brigid, and she decided he'd be the best one to ask. She was about to ask him how to get to Jacob's house, when the teen himself walked through the front door. "Hey, what are you doing here?" Jacob asked in a teasing way as he headed over to Brigid.  
"I came for a visit, but since I didn't know where your house was, or what your address was, I stopped here. I guess I must be at the correct reservation," Brigid teased back with a glint in her green eyes.  
"Guess so," Jacob replied and motioned for her to follow him, "I'll show you the way to my house."  
Brigid reached for her keys, but Jacob laughed, "We walk just about everywhere here, you might as well leave your car here."  
"Thanks for the heads up," Brigid grumbled and pointed to her flip-flops.  
Jacob started to laugh, but when he saw the stormy look on Brigid's face, he coughed until he had a straight face again.  
"I'm sure your feet will fit in a pair of my sister's shoes."  
With that, the two headed down the street to Jacob's house.  
When the two teens reached Jacob's house, Billy was out front talking to another man. "What a surprise!" He exclaimed with a smile, "this is David's daughter that I was telling you about."  
"You weren't kidding, she is a little flower, isn't she?" The other man nodded.  
"Dad," Jacob rolled his eyes.  
"Flower?" Brigid asked.  
"That's what they call the girls they think are pretty," Jacob shook his head as they headed inside.  
"What, do you not agree with them?" Brigid replied.  
"Well, no, I mean…yes, I think you're pretty, but you remind me more of a deer than a flower," Jacob stuttered.  
"Ahaa," Brigid laughed, "I was just kidding. You don't have to agree with them, but I would like to know what you mean by more of a deer."  
"Here, these should fit," Jacob mumbled as he thrust a pair of black rain boots with white polka-dots.  
Brigid pulled the shoes on and left her flip-flops on the doorstep. "Are you going to just leave me confused?"  
"I was trying to put it into words," Jacob replied as they wandered the reservation.  
Brigid nodded and rubbed her arms as a gust of wind rolled off of the ocean. Jacob took off his hoodie and Brigid pulled it on gratefully. She breathed in Jacob's scent and was momentarily transported back to a park near her childhood home. The smell of earth, plants, and crisp brooks overwhelmed her, but underneath she could also smell something spicy that tickled her nose. She sneezed and Jacob let out a single chuckle. "I suppose you didn't hear any of that," He stated.  
"Hear any of what?" She asked.  
"My explanation for more of a deer."  
"Oh, no, I didn't. I'm sorry," Brigid blushed.  
"You should do that more often," Jacob smiled.  
"Do what?"  
"Smile, blush, it lights up your face," Jacob stated and shook his head, "Forget that I said that."

"What did you say? Something about more of a deer?" Brigid feigned memory loss.  
Jacob grinned and continued, "You have this sort of quiet power about you, and you're not delicate enough to be a flower. But, you're also not strong enough to be anything more powerful. I mean, you're still a girl, and girls are still weaker than guys."  
Brigid shot Jacob a glance and caused him to chuckle again. "Anyway, you have a grace like a deer also. But, just keep that 'deer-sense' working, because there are some dangerous things around here," Jacob finished, a dark look clouding his features.  
Brigid was silent as she watched Jacob's face slowly lighten back to its usually joking manner. "Hope I didn't completely weird you out with that."  
"No, it was cool. I never thought to compare myself to a deer. I always saw myself as more of a dog or a panther-like animal. At one point," Brigid giggled, "I used to like to pretend I was part wolf or something."  
Jacob snorted, "Silly girl."

"Silly boy for getting along with a silly girl."  
"Smart boy," Jacob countered, "for getting along with a cool girl."  
Brigid laughed and pushed Jacob with her shoulder, "Flattery will only get you so far."  
"Yeah, right," Jacob snorted. 

------------------

Well, there was my first chapter of this story! If you liked it, please review. I'll try to stick as close to the series as possible. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of the books, so I can't promise everything will be exact. If someone would kindly double check my spelling of Quilete, that would be amazing!

-Silver


	2. Chapter 2

I'm back for another chapter! Thanks to those who reviewed.  
jester1- Thank you for double checking my spelling of Quileute. I've got it written down next to my computer so I won't misspell it anymore—hopefully. I also hope that this chapter gives you a little more of the drama you want. I have to admit, unless I want a story to be overly dramatic at the beginning, my first chapter or two are fairly simple. They like to get more and more complicated as I know where the story is going, but I think since this is based on a book, instead of my usual medium, it will help give it a bit more of a guideline.  
Aqua- I appreciate that you took the time to read my story even if you did not see the point in it. I think that if you continue to read the story, you'll see that this is just an alternative universe, and not quite the Mary-Sue you accused it of being. Unlike many Mary-Sue stories, I'm not inserting my character in with all of the main characters. She happens to be showing you what might have happened if Bella was different and had different experiences.

I welcome all reviews, so write them, good or bad, and I'll try to get back to you!

-Silver

Brigid slowly met more people at school and became close friends with her volleyball team mates. She had noticed that Edward had left for a few days and had not reappeared until the next week. When Brigid saw Edward sitting at their lab table, she tugged at the sleeves of her blue, zippered hoodie. She slammed her books onto the desk and locked her elbows on top of them. "Nice of you to show up, finally—I had to complete two labs, that required two people, by myself," She hissed, putting emphasis on 'by myself.'

Edward pushed his copper bangs out of his eyes and started slowly and softly, "I'm sorry for any inconvenience I might have caused you. My father, my brother, and myself like to take camping trips and he, my father, was finally able to clear his schedule."  
Brigid's elbows unlocked at the sound of Edward's velvety soft voice. She pushed her own golden brown curls out of her face and turned to stare him in the eye. "You could have at least treated me a little better last time. I'm fairly tempted to say you're a pain in the ass," Brigid grumbled, trying to hold on to her quickly dissipating anger.  
"You have a point. Allow me to formally introduce myself; my name is Edward Cullen and I will be your lab partner for the year," He replied, turning a pair of golden eyes on her.  
Brigid's forehead furrowed. "That's an interesting eye color you have, Cullen."  
"Please, call me Edward."  
"Alright, Edward. Either way, you have an interesting eye color," Brigid repeated, slightly more cordially.  
"May I have your attention class," began the teacher, "today, we will be dissecting frogs. Those of you who had lab partners out when we dissected worms will need to show your lab partner how to properly dissect."  
"Looks like I'm going to have to miss out on all the fun," Edward joked.  
"Seems so," Brigid replied a little flatly.  
Edward cast an occasional glance Brigid's way as they dissected. 'If only I could hear what he's thinking,' Brigid contemplated when she caught him staring. She saw him shift a little and rolled her eyes. 'Maybe not.'  
The day continued in its new school time routine. Mike was caught watching her as she joked around with some of the girls in P.E. The other guys would make fun of him, and Brigid would come to his defense. Then the girls would take a turn picking on her till her face turned stony and she shot them looks. After school, Brigid would stay for two hours to practice with the volleyball team unless they had a game. Tonight was the big game against the high school on the Quileute reservation, and Brigid was excited.  
"Someone coming?" Sara, one of her team mates, asked as they were dressing for the game.  
"Or three somebodies?" Another team mate, Rachel giggled.  
"Three! We've got a heart-breaker in this one, girls," the team captain Olivia exclaimed.  
"Three?" Brigid laughed, "I'll probably only have two, at most!"  
"And who would they be," Sara prodded.  
"My dad and Jacob," Brigid stated matter-of-factly.

"We'll see," Rachel sing-songed as they all left the locker room.  
The team arrived on the court to school cheers and large posters with there names. It seemed like half of the school had turned out to see them, and sitting right in the second row by the door, was Brigid's dad. He whistled and winked at her. He was sporting a school spirit t-shirt and it made Brigid's face light up. Towards the top corner, farthest away from the door, was Edward. He saw her look at him and nodded to her. She stumbled a little out of shock, but continued forward. Soon, she was almost to the team bench when Mike came out of nowhere and started babbling on and on. Brigid just waved him off and went to stand with her team.  
When the opposing team came out, Brigid bit her lip. Their players were the same size as many of Brigid's team mates, but they all had this look on their faces that told people they meant business. It was right then that Brigid knew that they were in trouble. By the end of the first set, they were. Having lost, the team got together to regroup. "We can do this, we came so close last year; and now, with a real champ on our team, they don't have a chance. Get your heads together and let's go!" Olivia shouted over the blaring music.  
All the girls shouted and broke up into their positions for the second set. It was during a tie that Brigid saw Jacob walking back to his seat. He glanced over and saw her watching and cheered. "Make this a good match, White-tail!" Jacob shouted.  
Brigid laughed and crouched back down into her position, becoming more and more like the jungle cat that she idolized. When the next ball came, it only took her one hit to send it flying back to the other side. Soon, the other team received a penalty for more than the allowed number of hits. It was Brigid's turn to serve.  
From there on was a rallying point for the Forks girls. Brigid served the ball over and over, making ace after ace. It did not take long for the team to win the set. Returning to the team bench, Brigid was greeted with cheers and high-fives from the rest of the team. "Alright, girls, it's close. Can you feel it? I said can you feel it!" Olivia shouted and the team screamed, "Don't get sloppy! Get it done, let's get that win!"  
It all seemed a blur to Brigid as she swapped in and out with teammates. Spikes, blocks, aces and shouts abounded. And in no time at all, Brigid was being swept away by a mass along with her teammates. They had beaten the Quileute team for the first time in more than twenty years. And no matter how many people slapped her on the back or congratulated her, she was only looking for one person.  
"Way to go, Bird."  
"Thanks, Dad," Brigid smiled.  
"That was some game, I've never seen a crowd so rambunctious since I went to a rock concert in my good-ole days," David laughed and wrapped and arm around Brigid's shoulders.  
"I was pretty shocked myself," Brigid added, "but I'm glad to be going home. I'm starving."  
"Good thing Jacob brought some of that fish fry with him when he stopped by before the game," David commented off-handedly.  
"Jacob was at our house?" Brigid asked.  
"Yeah, in fact, we're his ride back to his car. I worry about that thing though; it's a fixer-upper that could use a few more fixes."  
Brigid and her dad laughed all the way to her car.  
"Can I hitch a ride?" Jacob asked as he leaned against Brigid's light blue Ford Focus with a huge smile plastered across his face.  
"Maybe, as long as you have payment," Brigid smirked as she tossed her keys in the air.  
"Fish fry's in the oven staying warm."  
"I think that will do," Brigid laughed tossed Jacob the keys.  
"You're going to let me drive your car?" Jacob asked with an inquisitive look on his face.  
"Do you really think I'd be able to drive in a straight line after all the leg work?" Brigid countered.  
"Score!"  
"There were a lot of those too."  
Brigid and Jacob laughed as David shook his head. "I'm going to try and get out of here and warm up the fish fry. Stop by the grocery store and pick up some ketchup and a celebratory gallon of ice cream, would you."

"That, I have enough strength left for," Brigid stated.  
"I thought so."  
Brigid and Jacob joked and talked all the way to the grocery store. Brigid told Jacob to stay put and she ran in to buy the things David requested. As she browsed the different flavors of ice cream, trying to determine which would go over with everyone the best, Mike walked down the aisle. "Hey, fancy meeting you here!" He smiled.  
Brigid smiled back and stuck her hands in the pockets of her zippered hoodie. "Aren't you cold?" Mike asked as he looked her up and down, slowly.

Brigid was still wearing her forest green and white team jersey, forest green spanx, and white knee high socks with matching green stripes and a pair of sneakers along with her hoodie.  
"Not in the least bit," Brigid replied smoothly.

"Hey, Brigid, you okay in here? Oh, sorry, did I interrupt something?" Jacob called from other end of aisle.

"No, Mike was just saying hello. What flavor of ice cream do you want?" Brigid asked.

"Moosetracks, out of all these, is the best," Jacob replied.

"Well, it was good to see you," Mike said awkwardly as he backed away, "Good job at the game. See you in class."

Mike tripped over a display and high-tailed it out of there. As soon as he was out of sight, Jacob started snickering. Brigid smacked his arm, "Be nice, the guy's just trying to be nice."

"More like failing at hitting on you," Jacob managed to choke out before he was overcome by another bought of laughter.

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny, Jake—not. Come on," Brigid started as she pulled a carton of ice cream out of the freezer, "let's go eat."

The evening passed uneventfully. Brigid, Jacob, and David enjoyed the fish fry, some French fries courtesy of the frozen food aisle, and ice cream while watching an episode of Glee. The two guys had agreed that since Brigid had won the game they would let her pick the TV show. Only Jacob complained, but that was alright by Brigid. She was having a good night and not even Jacob's constant whining could annoy her. Jacob left after the show was over and David showed a little concern at Jacob's driving home in the rain. Brigid laughed at her dad and reminded him that Jacob and she did have school the next day. David finally insisted on driving Jacob home since the Rabbit's tires did not look good. After they left, Brigid finished off the ice cream and took a nice, hot shower. She was drying her hair with a towel when she remembered that she hadn't finished her Biology diagram of the dissected frog. She groaned and quickly changed into a pair of green and black plaid, flannel pajama bottoms and a black tank-top. Brigid curled up on her bed with her biology book and the diagram she had half-way finished. She turned on her MP3 player and managed to almost finish the worksheet before falling asleep on her book.

When she woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, she slowed her breathing and looked up to see an empty room. "I swear someone was in here," She mumbled and pushed her things off her bed and crawled under the covers.

The next day was a bore and Brigid had a hard time keeping her eyes open. In fact, while she was standing in line to buy lunch, her eyes closed and her eyes drooped. Her tray slipped from between her fingers, but when she opened her eyes, Edward was kneeling in front of her with the tray in his hands. "Thanks," Brigid mumbled and took it from him.

"Do you have it?" He checked.  
"I think so," Brigid replied with a slight look of confusion.  
"Well, I'll see you in Biology," Edward nodded and started to walk away.  
"Wait," Brigid called, "You went to the volleyball game last night. Why?"  
"What do you think?"  
"I don't know what I'm thinking right now. My head's too foggy," Brigid mumbled.  
"I have to agree with that," Edward replied with a chuckle and headed back to his table.

I know this wasn't very long, but I really want to save the next thing for another chapter instead of starting it now. I hope you enjoyed it at least a little bit.

-Silver


End file.
